The University of Madras shall not conduct its Senate meeting on Saturday. A notice from the University’s registrar on Friday said the meeting had been “adjourned sine die due to prevailing Model Code of Conduct announced by the Election Commission of India”.
The decision has surprised some former professors who pointed out a similar decision not been taken either during the 2019 parliamentary election or the 2021 assembly election.
“This move is hard to comprehend,” said a former professor. On Saturday, election to Syndicate from the Senate were part of the agenda.
The university could have either allowed the election and withheld the results till the Model Code was lifted or withheld the elections itself while permitting the Senate meeting.
An official of the University said, “During the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019 and Assembly elections in 2011, 2016 and 2021, nothing like this happened”.
“Adjournment of the Senate meeting itself appears to be an overreach interpretation of the code. This move could affect administrative activities. The primary concern is the non-approval of the budget,” said P.T. Srinivasan, former head of Department of Management Studies at the University.
The university would lack the legitimacy to spend, including on salaries and pension. As the code will be lifted only in the first week of June, how the university will tide over the situation remains a concern, he said, pointing out that in February, the university faced a financial crisis after its accounts were frozen by the income tax authorities.
Among the agenda was the discussion on payment of remuneration to 31 faculty members in the Institute of Distance Education. The university requires an additional Rs. 50 lakh to pay remuneration to the temporary teachers for the period from December 2023 to March 2024.
Meanwhile the Finance Committee of the University has called for action against Devendra Kumar Bhandari, Chartered Accountant, of M/s. B.P. Jain & Co., for delay in filling and error submission of income tax returns for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2022-23 on behalf of the University of Madras and not educating awareness about tax procedures for filing of ITR and tax exemptions related under Income Tax Acts to the officials of the University of Madras.
This Act had resulted in the IT Department levying Income Tax/Penalty/Fine over Rs. 424 crore, which had damaged the name, fame and goodwill “of the Mother University in South India” the University said.
